


Sleepy in Silicon Valley

by all_ships_are_my_otp



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Caretaking, Fluff, M/M, Sleep, Watching Someone Sleep, promise it's not creepy though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 20:02:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11493741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/all_ships_are_my_otp/pseuds/all_ships_are_my_otp
Summary: Dinesh falls asleep everywhere. Gilfoyle thinks it’s really fucking weird.(But, he always silently takes care of Dinesh anyway.)





	Sleepy in Silicon Valley

Dinesh falls asleep everywhere. Gilfoyle thinks that it’s really fucking weird.

 

**

 

The first time it happened, Richard, Bighead, Dinesh and Gilfoyle were sitting at their desks, working on their respective apps as usual. One minute, Dinesh was writing code, and the next, he was leaning back into his chair, eyes closed.

 

Dinesh usually fidgeted while he wrote code, and Gilfoyle’s peripheral vision immediately realized something was up. He spun his chair around to take a closer look at Dinesh. Sure enough, he was sitting perfectly still, eyes closed.

 

He felt a strange rush of adrenaline as he stood up and raced over to Dinesh. He gently poked his arm, then hit it harder, and then shook him by the shoulders. Dinesh didn’t stir.

 

“Guys. Something’s up with Dinesh. He’s completely unconscious,” Gilfoyle said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

 

Richard shrugged noncommittally, not even looking up from his computer screen.

 

“Oh yeah, Dinesh does that sometimes,” Bighead said flippiantly. “He’s a really deep sleeper. One time when he fell asleep in his chair, Erlich threw a party. Dinesh didn’t even notice.”

 

“That’s really fucking weird,” Gilfoyle said, eyeing Dinesh suspiciously.

 

“Nope. Just Dinesh.”

 

**

 

The next time he it happened, Gilfoyle was the only other one in the room. Dinesh yawned, stretched, and promptly fell asleep in his chair.

 

Gilfoyle stood up and walked over to Dinesh’s desk space.

 

“Dumbass. You forgot to log off. I could delete your entire codebase. If I wanted to.”

 

No sound, other than Dinesh’s faint breathing.

 

“You didn’t even save your code.”

 

Gilfoyle glanced at Dinesh. He looked oddly peaceful.

 

“You fucking owe me asshole,” Gilfoyle muttered, as he carefully saved each open tab of Dinesh’s code.

 

**

 

It kept happening. Usually multiple times per week.

 

Dinesh would fall asleep while writing code. Gilfoyle would always save his code, shut down his computer, and—if none of the other guys were around—carry Dinesh to his bedroom.

 

Or, they’d be watching some dumb tv show, and Dinesh’s constant stream of commentary would suddenly stop. That was always annoying, because Gilfoyle never knew what to do after Dinesh fell asleep. Dinesh was the only reason he could stand to watch tv in the first place.

 

Once, it happened when they were playing video games. In the middle of a gunfire attack, Dinesh’s character stopped moving. A second later, Dinesh’s eyes were closed, and his head fell into Gilfoyle’s lap.

 

Gilfoyle froze as he felt blood rush up to his face and down...somewhere else. Dinesh’s head resting in his lap felt surprisingly good. Gilfoyle looked down at his perfectly serene facial expression and felt a strange urge to kiss him.

 

“Hey Gilfoyle, are you almost done? I want to use the TV for something.”

 

Startled, Gilfoyle hastily slid away from Dinesh’s warmth and stood up to face Richard. “Yeah, it’s all yours. Dinesh and I were playing video games but he fell asleep on the couch. Again. I’m going to bed.”

 

**

 

Erlich, Richard, Bighead, Dinesh and he were driving back to the incubator after having attended a launch party for some startup Gilfoyle had never heard of and certainly didn’t care about. They had decided to travel together in Erlich’s van. Since Richard’s sensitive constitution required him to sit up front to prevent carsickness and Bighead was too drunk to climb into the backseat of the van, Gilfoyle and Dinesh were stuck sitting in the back.

 

They were arguing whose app would be the first to be successful enough to host a party of that size when Dinesh suddenly yawned.

 

“Fuck, I just got really tired,” he said sleepily. “Good night, Gilfoyle.”

 

Gilfoyle watched him cautiously as he closed his eyes and relaxed back into his seat. The van made a sharp turn and Dinesh’s body was shoved sideways into Gilfoyle. Dinesh’s surprisingly pointy elbow was jammed into Gilfoyle’s side and Dinesh’s head was resting on Gilfoyle’s shoulder.

 

“Get off me, asshole,” Gilfoyle muttered, but he didn’t move Dinesh away from him.

 

When they arrived back at the house, Dinesh was still asleep.

 

“We could pour cold water on him. Maybe that would wake him up,” Bighead suggested.

 

“No!” Erlich said immediately. “First of all, we already tried cold water on Dinesh—it doesn’t work. And even if it did, you are not to pour as much as a drop of liquid onto the seat cushions of my dazzling _Aviato_ vehicle.”

 

“Well, he can’t sleep in the car,” Richard pointed out.

 

“You guys are missing the obvious solution,” Gilfoyle grumbled. Heslung Dinesh over his shoulder and carefullycarried him out of the van.

 

“Oh. Um, I guess that works too,” Bighead said.

 

The other guys started to walk back into the house. Gilfoyle adjusted his grip and carried Dinesh bridal style into his bedroom, setting him gently on the bed. After a moment of thought—and after double checking that none of the other guys were watching—Gilfoyle tucked Dinesh in under his ridiculously warm quilt.

 

“Goodnight, Dinesh.”

 

**

 

Another time, it happened during breakfast. It all started with an argument from the night before.

 

“Stupid fucking iPhone bug,” Dinesh muttered.

 

“Serves you right for developing your app for iPhones,” Gilfoyle said smugly.

 

“At least my app will earn money in the Apple Store,” Dinesh countered.

 

“Yeah, the Apple Store, which caters to less than 20% of all smartphone users.”

 

“Well, my app idea is unique. By the time your app goes to market, there will be five others just like it available for Android phones. For free. It’s not like writing an Android app is hard.”

 

“First of all, my app will succeed no matter the competition. People will be willing to pay for the superior product. Second of all, fuck you. iPhone apps are way easier to build. I bet I could rewrite my entire codebase for iOS in a night.”

 

“Fuck you too, and I bet I can port my app to Android faster than you.”

 

“You’re on, asshole.”

 

They immediately got to work, programing at an extremely fast pace. It didn’t take long for each of them to realize that he had underestimated the workload involved with rewriting an entire app for a different operating system. Of course, neither wanted to admit weakness, so they continued coding, looking at their respective screens and typing furiously, only pausing to make the occasional jibe at the other’s preferred programming language of choice.

 

At 1am, Gilfoyle went to the kitchen and returned with two cans of Red Bull. He gave one to Dinesh.

 

“Don’t want you falling asleep, asshole. I want a real win.”

 

At 2am, Dinesh went to fetch himself another can. A half an hour later, he made a pot of coffee.

 

It wasn’t until warm yellow sunlight glimmered through the window that Gilfoyle realized he and Dinesh had stayed up all night. Gilfoyle checked his progress. He had severely underestimated the complexity of developing iOS apps—he wasn’t even halfway done.

 

He looked at Dinesh. Dinesh was grinning at him goofily.

 

“You’re nowhere close to being finished either, are you?”

 

“Yup,” Gilfoyle said. “How about we forget about the bet, call this time successfully wasted and get some breakfast?”

 

They went to the kitchen. Gilfoyle reached for the cereal as usual, and Dinesh headed for the fridge to grab yogurt.

 

“Hey—is it normal to get really bad headaches when you’ve had too much caffeine?” Dinesh asked. Gilfoyle glanced over at Dinesh only to see his eyes fluttering shut, and it took him half a second to realize that Dinesh was _falling_ , the hard kitchen floor approaching quickly, and he sprung into action, dropping the open box of cereal on the floor as he raced over to catch him in time--

 

Gilfoyle’s sleep-deprived brain had apparently decided that the best course of action was to dive onto the floor, so that he could cushion Dinesh’s fall.

 

“Oof,” Gilfoyle grunted as Dinesh fell on top of him. He gingerly rolled Dinesh off of him, turning him so he was lying on his back.

 

“Fucking idiot always fucking falling asleep,” he muttered fiercely. “You could have fucking hit your head and fucking gotten a concussion and fucking died.”

 

He pressed his ear against Dinesh’s chest to listen for a heartbeat, which thankfully was still there. Dinesh’s chest felt solid, warm and safe. The part of Gilfoyle’s brain screaming for sleep wanted him to wrap his arms around Dinesh and fall asleep next to him, right there on the kitchen floor.

 

“Um, Gilfoyle? What are you doing?”

 

Gilfoyle jumped at the sound of Dinesh’s voice and jerked backward, immediately missing the physical contact.

 

“You fell asleep standing up. Or fainted. I don’t know. You almost fell on your head. I was just checking to make sure you were, you know…”

 

“Alive?” Dinesh laughed. “This was just a bad dizzy spell. I wasn’t unconscious or anything. That being said, I should probably get in my bed just in case.”

 

“I’ll come with you,” Gilfoyle said at once.

 

Dinesh raised a curious eyebrow at him.

 

“I mean,” Gilfoyle said, hoping he didn’t look as embarrassed as he felt, “I should probably accompany you to your bedroom, in case you have another dizzy spell.”

 

They walked to Dinesh’s room. Dinesh immediately cannonballed onto his bed. Gilfoyle cracked a small smile.

 

Gilfoyle was about to leave when he noticed Dinesh booting up his laptop.

 

“I thought you were going to sleep,” he said.

 

“I’m not actually that tired,” Dinesh said. “I think my body needs another hour or two for the caffeine to wear off. So I thought I’d watch a movie until then.”

 

“What movie?”

 

“I don’t know. I’m in the mood for something dumb. Maybe one of the _Matrix_ sequels.”

 

No matter how much he tried to reassure himself that his fear was irrational, Gilfoyle was still afraid that Dinesh was going to faint again or have a seizure or something. Also, he always loved listening to Dinesh criticize the shit out of a movie.

 

“Can I join you?”

 

“Um, I guess,” Dinesh said, scooting to one end of his bed to make room for Gilfoyle on the other.

 

Sitting side by side on Dinesh’s bed, watching a movie, bodies just barely not-touching—that wasn’t new territory for Gilfoyle and Dinesh. Previously, they had been sexiled by Erlich (who for some reason insisted on occupying the living room) halfway through a _Star Wars_ marathon, so they were forced to finish the rest in Dinesh’s room.

 

But today somehow felt different. Maybe it was because Gilfoyle was sleep-deprived, which made every sensation feel fuzzy around the edges. Maybe it was because he still felt the adrenaline from his fear when he first saw Dinesh falling in the kitchen. Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that it took him a full half an hour before he realized that their fingers had been intertwined under Dinesh’s heavy quilt the whole time.

 

**

 

When Gilfoyle woke up, his first thought was: _Shit, I fell asleep_.

 

Dinesh was still sleeping. His arms were wrapped around Gilfoyle as if he were an oversized stuffed animal. Gilfoyle liked the sensation. It felt oddly right. When he realized what he was thinking, he forced himself to untangle himself from Dinesh’s grip. He didn’t actually feel anything for Dinesh, right? It was probably just the residual sleep deprivation talking.

 

Just before Gilfoyle was about to get out of bed, he felt Dinesh’s arms reaching out again. They enveloped him in an even tighter hug.

 

Gilfoyle froze. Dinesh always slept like a rock, but he could now feel him shuffling under the covers. Dinesh was awake.

 

Dinesh’s eyes opened, then widened in surprise when he saw Gilfoyle.

 

“Sorry,” Dinesh said at once, retracting his arms.

 

“No, I should be apologizing,” Gilfoyle said, sitting up straight. “I fell asleep here by accident. You should have just woken me up and kicked me out.”

 

“You seemed really tired. I didn’t want to wake you. And I didn’t want to get out of bed to move you anyway in case I fell asleep while carrying you.” Dinesh kicked his quilt to the foot of his bed and sat cross-legged next to Gilfoyle. “Sorry for attacking you in bed like that. I promise I wasn’t trying to strangle you. I think my subconscious thought you were a pillow.”

 

“It was fine,” Gilfoyle said, looking away from Dinesh.

 

“Holy shit,” Dinesh said, looking at the time on his phone. “It’s one in the afternoon.”

 

“Fuck. There go my chances at a healthy sleep schedule.”

 

“I guess I’m lucky. You can’t fuck up something you didn’t have in the first place.”

 

Gilfoyle laughed.

 

Dinesh took a deep breath. “Seriously, though. Thanks for taking care of me. Saving my code, carrying me to my bed, and helping me this morning, obviously… You’re the first person to ever really bother, you know. Before I would just have to live in this constant state of vulnerability. But I trust you.”

 

“Wait, seriously? Nobody has helped you deal with your fucked up sleep condition before? How are you still alive?”

 

“Well, I have broken my arm twice, had three concussions and passed out more times than I can remember.”

 

“Holy shit.”

 

“Anyway, I really appreciate it.”

 

Gilfoyle shifted uncomfortably. “Stop thanking me. It feels weird. It’s not as if I’ll ever stop. I like you. I like taking care of you. It’s as simple as that.”

 

Suddenly, Gilfoyle felt Dinesh’s lips on his. Stunned, he didn’t kiss back, and Dinesh pulled away a second later.

 

“Oh shit, I read that vibe wrong, fuuuuck,” Dinesh said, panicked. “Just forget that ever happened. It was a mistake. I didn’t mean--”

 

Gilfoyle interrupted him with another kiss. Dinesh responded immediately, and Gilfoyle deepened the kiss. By the time Dinesh pulled away, they were both out of breath.

 

“Love you,” Dinesh said sleepily, relaxing into Gilfoyle’s touch as his eyes fluttered shut.

 

**

 

Dinesh falls asleep everywhere. As much as Gilfoyle hates to admit it, it’s kind of fucking adorable.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm not sure if Dinesh's sleep disorder is actually a real thing. Maybe narcolepsy? Combined with low blood pressure to account for the dizzy spells? Anyway, I know it doesn't make much sense, but this cute idea popped into my head and I wanted to write it :)))


End file.
